Alliance Colony Foundation Records
- Finding Aid, Alliance Colony Foundation RecordsU0085
For further details on the collection please utilize the finding aid. Please note this collection is not currently digitized. To view the collection, please make an appointment to visit Special Collections.
About the Collection
The Alliance Colony Foundation was incorporated in 1982 following a successful 100th-anniversary celebration of the establishment of Alliance, New Jersey. Alliance, New Jersey in Salem County was established as a farming community in 1882 by a group of 43 Jewish families escaping persecution and pogroms in Russia.
The Foundation's purpose was to promote, share, and preserve the history, culture, buildings, and artifacts relating to the Alliance Colony and its settlers. Its projects included establishing a museum in the synagogue, applying for grants to preserve and restore original homes and buildings belonging to members of the colony, and conducting a feasibility study and visitor survey to plan a larger living-history project. In 2019, the Alliance Colony Foundation combined efforts with Stockton University to found the Alliance Heritage Center, dedicated to preserving the history and telling the stories of the original settlers and their descendants.
The collection was acquired in 2021 from Jay Greenblatt, the first President of the Alliance Colony Foundation and a descendant of one of the early settlers of Alliance and Brotmanville. The collection contains meeting minutes, foundational documents, financial records, and membership lists, along with studies and grant applications for the preservation activities for the buildings in Alliance, New Jersey. Also included are planning documents for the anniversary events and other programs.
Collection processed by Heather Halpin Perez, Special Collections Librarian, August 2021.
From the Collection
Alliance Centennial program, 1982.
Alliance, New Jersey settlement map, drawn from memory.
History of Alliance community
Related Resources
- Alliance Colony Heritage Collection (U0068)The Alliance Colony was first established in 1882 by Jewish families fleeing oppression in Russia. It is considered the first successful Jewish farming colony in the United States. This collection consists of land records, historical photographs and information (journals, synagogue records, etc.), and family information from the original settlers and their descendants.
- The Federation of Jewish Agencies Scrapbooks (U0099)Consisting of 31 scrapbooks, this collection showcases the rich history of the Jewish Communities of South Jersey, particularly in Atlantic County. Consisting of newspaper clippings, letters, invitations, ads, propaganda, etc. - it gives a comprehensive concept of Jewish South Jersey culture from the 1940s to the 1980s.
- Jewish Federation of Southern New Jersey Records (U0067)Scrapbooks, photographs, programs relating to activities conducted by the membership of the Jewish Federation of Southern New Jersey, dating from approximately 1949 to 1997. Included is information about the fundraising for the construction of the Jewish Community Centers and the humanitarian efforts to assist survivors of World War II.
- Adventures in Idealism: A Personal Record of the Life of Professor Sabsovich byPublication Date: 2021
- Fun Things Happened Along My Way byPublication Date: 2018(Donated by Ernie Jellinek)
- History of the Baron de Hirsch Fund: The Americanization of the Jewish Immigrant byPublication Date: 1935
- Immigrants to Freedom: Jewish Communities in Rural New Jersey since 1881 byPublication Date: 1971(Donated by Anita Schultz)
Jewish Agricultural Colonies in New Jersey, 1882-1920 by ISBN: 0815626630
The Jewish Colonies of South Jersey by ISBN: 9781947889941- Social Aspects of the Jewish Colonies of South Jersey byPublication Date: 1921(Donated by Jay Einstein)
- Structure and Functioning of the American Jewish Community byPublication Date: 1974(Donated by Jewish Federation of Southern New Jersey)
- Yoval: A Symposium Upon the First Fifty Years of the Jewish Farming Colonies of Alliance, Norma, and Brotmanville, New Jersey byPublication Date: 1932
- Living on the Land Oral Histories (Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History)"This collection contains oral history interviews conducted for a temporary exhibition called Living on the Land that was on view at the Museum in 1979. In the late nineteenth century, millions of Jewish refugees fled Russia to find new homes due to rising persecution. Most moved to cities and found work in garment trades, manufacturing, or commerce, but some families became farmers in agricultural communities around the world. The interviews in this collection offer insight into the history and culture of the Jewish farming communities of southern New Jersey through the perspectives of those who lived there, including descendants of the earliest founders of Alliance and other towns. Living on the Land featured excerpts from these interviews in wall text, a slide show, and audio clips."
Copyright Notice
While Stockton University’s Bjork Library’s Special Collection and Archives owns the collection, Stockton may not own the copyright for all of the items. Researchers wishing to reproduce materials are responsible for obtaining the proper permissions.